A Very Spoby Christmas
by AthenaJanethePrettyLittleLiar
Summary: "He was there, with her, and that made her happy, even if it was just for a short time." Mix together Christmas and Spoby fluff and this one-shot is created. One night, when having trouble decorating for Christmas, Spencer gives her fav carpenter a call.


Spencer Hastings raked her hair back from her face and huffed out an aggravated breath, falling back onto her butt on the stool behind her. Sometimes, it felt like the most normal of her problems were more frustrating than those caused by A.

She looked around her at the mess of boxes and broken ornaments this way and that – the product of her stupid decision to get them down from the basement shelves alone. But Spencer was nothing if not headstrong on her projects. She _was_ going to finish this.

For the past hour and a half, Spencer had been struggling to push her tiny frame to the top shelf of her basement, balancing on nothing but a rickety chair, and then proceeding to attempt to lug down the heavy boxes of Christmas décor. All of that had resulted in dropping and shattering.

Her sister, Melissa, was finally coming back home from Philadelphia after over a month of being gone, and Spencer's parents thought it would be 'magical' (their words, not hers) to have the house completely decorated for their favorite holiday in honor of Melissa's return.

The part they didn't include when sharing their idea with Spencer was that they were both working late the night before Melissa's arrival and they expected Spencer to put the whole thing together. They had used Spencer's guilt to make her feel responsible for carrying out the project. They pulled out things like 'Well, you _were_ part of why most of their marriage didn't end well' and 'she _is_ your sister'. They even pulled out the old Wren card, and by that time, Spencer was so willing to say yes just to make them shut up.

So there she was, crouched over piles of broken glass with aching arms and cold feet (in the literal sense). She tugged her phone out of her pocket, starting to go through her list of people to call and help her.

Let's see…Aria. No, wait. She was out on some romantic date with Fitz to some Christmas musical or something like that. Plus, she wouldn't be much help anyway, what with her elfin size and lack of athletic ability.

Hmmm…

Emily. No, she was probably just finishing her 'get-together' ("Not a date." Emily had strongly said, "Maya says she wants to take things slow.") with Maya. Plus, her parents were in town for the week, and because she was still staying at Hanna's place, she would want to spend time with them.

Spencer cursed as she kept thinking.

Hanna. Ugh, no way she could convince her to throw on the ol' tennies and get down to work putting up a tree. Hanna may be a top-notch camper, but she had to draw the line somewhere. "Decorating is a parent's job." Spencer recalled her saying some odd months ago.

She didn't even want to think about asking Wren. The poor sap had been leaving her voicemails all week, and Spencer was nowhere near ready to get into another relationship. Plus, Wren wasn't much of a…handy man. He was sworn to working on nothing but his hospital patients.

Spencer froze as she thought of her only remaining option. Oh no. She couldn't do that. There was no way… But at the same time, it would be so much easier with his help. And she missed him. She missed him more than anyone would ever know.

She weighed her options for one more second before taking a deep breath and pressing the 'Call' button on her phone. She slowly raised the phone to her ear and listen to it ring, hardly able to hear it over her pounding heartbeat.

"Spencer?" His familiar voice answered at the second ring. He sounded hopeful, but cautious as well.

"Toby. I need your help."

"Where are you? Are you okay?" He asked, his voice shadowed by fear.

"I'm fine. I can't say the same for my ornaments." _Or my heart__. _She thought bitterly.

"Wait. What do you need my help for?"

"I'm trying to decorate our house for Melissa and my parents aren't home. I can't get stuff down from the shelf without nearly killing myself and I need your help." Spencer answered, running a hand through her hair.

The dial was silent for a moment.

"Toby?"

"I'll be over in a sec." /

/"Thanks for…doing this." Spencer said as she led Toby down to steps to her dank basement.

"No problem." Toby replied. He was acting as if nothing had happened between them, as if they were back to their steady friendship, way back when. Before he had kissed her for the first time that night they played Scrabble to pass the time while waiting for Jenna. Before he had told her he loved her when she spent the money from Melissa's wedding ring on a car. Before A had made her break both of their hearts.

Spencer shuttered at the memory. She hated thinking about that day. About when she had just passed him by when he had come down to the police station, all worried, and professed his love for her. All of those memories were trapped in the room with them. They condensed the air around them, threatening to crush them under their weight. This casual demeanor was almost too much for her, but she decided that it was worth it to have her decorating done…and to see him again.

She cleared her throat as they descended the stairs. "So how have you been?" She asked lamely, knowing that there would be no truthful answer from him.

Toby shrugged. "Alright." He said, and Spencer left it at that.

"So, the boxes are over here –" Spencer started, pointing to the far corner of her basement, but she slipped on a puddle of water beneath a leaky pipe overhead on the bottom stair and lost her balance. She tried to grab for something, and Toby's arms encircled her waist before she could fall any further. She gasped softly, and slowly turned her head to the side, catching his gaze. They stood like that for a moment, poised on edge, saying nothing but yet everything at the same time. Spencer's heart beat fast and she wished that she could stay in that moment forever.

And keep living in it for the rest of eternity.

Finally, Toby's cleared his throat and steadied her, and Spencer snapped back into the present. She put a hand on the side of her neck in attempt to hide her blush and was immediately infuriated by herself. She was evil. Pure evil. She shouldn't be leading Toby like that.

She sighed and began to walk across the room, "So, here there are. Sadly, I'm not…"

"Strong enough to get it down?" Toby teased with his usual goofy smile. That smile made her heart thump and ache at the same time.

"No, I'm just not Mr. Carpenter." Spencer smiled back. It felt so easy, so natural again, like they had never left this place. Of course, they had, but Spencer didn't want to think of that now. He was there, with her, and that made her happy, even if it was just for a short time./

/"I have to admit, for an academic soul like yourself, you are pretty creative, Spence." Toby smiled at her. He was crouched beside the bin of ornaments, and she was on a stool, dangling a glass bulb from of the tree branches. She had color-coordinated the tree so that it displayed a lovely sight on purple, gold, red and green.

Spencer looked down at him with a smile. "Thanks. But I'm pretty sure it's my obsession with color-coordination and organization, not artistic excellence."

Toby laughed softly, handing her another ornament. "You know, I think that this could be the best Christmas tree I've ever seen."

"Then you must have seen a lifetime of Charlie Brown trees, because mine isn't all that great." Spencer teased, hanging a plastic purple snowflake on the tree.

"No, but I mean, my parents are hardly home and I mean Jenna isn't…" He trailed off, riffling through the lights and tinsel in the box. "Well, you know Jenna."

"Yeah, she doesn't really seem like the type to string up the lights and celebrate something happy."

"People who are miserable usually don't seek happiness. They just seek more destruction for themselves." Toby remarked.

Spencer nodded. She had had her fair share of those people in her life. Perhaps that was one of the reasons Toby had been so attractive to her – his ability to forgive and forget and find the diamond in the rough. He had been her diamond. She smiled at the memory and went back to work.

"Alright. I think that does it." Spencer said, clapping her hands together back and forth, smiling at her handiwork. She started to climb down the stool. At the same time, Toby rose to his feet, leaving them face-to-face. Spencer parted her lips and looked at him for a moment before clearing her throat and breaking their eye contact. "Listen, Toby…"

"I get it, Spence. This was a one-time thing." He cut her off. She expected his voice to be hard and cynical, but it was just a sweet and soft as it had been all night. "I'm not going to get my hopes up. I know that you aren't…going to take me back, at least not now. But I also know that if you think it's right for me to know what you can't tell me, then you'll clue me in. I trust you, Spencer. For better or for worse. Don't forget that."

Spencer opened her mouth to speak, but the words just didn't come out. She was dumbfounded. Every guy she had ever had had bailed on her in the time of need. Ian had gone out and found Alison, and eventually Melissa again. Wren had dropped out of her life and returned only when it was convenient for him. And Alex had walked out of her life for good, without ever looking back. Toby was there for her, would always be there for her. No matter what. And the thought made even the snowy days of Rosewood more bearable.

Spencer smiled softly. "Thank you." She whispered gently. No matter how messed up this was – them being in the same room, so close but yet so far apart – it was perfect, in it's own way. "There will never be a day that I'm not sorry for what happened between us." She confessed. "I wanted things to last. I promise, I did. But…in my life, it just doesn't seem possible anymore."

"I'll wait." Toby promised. "As long as you need me to. And if you want me to stay away, then I will. But until you do, I'm going to be your _friend_, Spencer. You need one right now."

His words made tears pool in Spencer's eyes and she let out a shaky sigh. "Thank you." She smiled and whispered softly.

Toby smiled back and pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead softly, brushing his lips over her skin in such a way that it felt loving and sweet but longingly at the same time. She pressed her face into his jacket, against his shoulder and was welcomed by his familiar warmth, his scent. "I love you, Toby." She whispered so softly. She knew that he couldn't hear it, but she said it to herself, just for her, because she wanted to hear at least one thing in her life she said that was completely and utterly untouched by any sort of lie.

When he pulled back and smiled and put an arm around her, they both turned to look a the tree, gleaming in the shadowed room, reflecting off of the windows of her living room.

And as she leaned her head on his shoulder, she stared at what they had created, and in it she saw Toby. The beautiful light that lit up her normally dark life, shadowed by lies and evil. Even if they wouldn't be able to go back to what things were, she knew that she needed that, in her heart, forever. It was something that A could never take from her.

"Merry Christmas, Spencer."

"Merry Christmas, Toby."


End file.
